Odisha: Bagchi-Sri Shankara Cancer Centre To Be Functional From Rath Yatra On June 20

Bhubaneswar: The newly-built Bagchi-Sri Shankara Cancer Centre and Research Institute will be made functional in Bhubaneswar on the occasion of Lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra on June 20.

The state-of-art super speciality hospital with advanced cancer care facilities has been set up at Info-valley-II in a record 15 months. ‘Pratistha puja’ of the hospital was held on Wednesday, sources said.

As announced earlier, the hospital is all set to admit its first patient and start treatment on the auspicious occasion of Rath Yatra, Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) chairman Subroto Bagchi said

Stating that more patient-centric services will be provided at the hospital, he said emphasis will be on patients’ satisfaction, quality and effectiveness of healthcare.

Built on 20 acre land given free of cost by the state government, the 750-bed cancer hospital will have latest world-class equipment and facilities.

The hospital will earmark 25 per cent beds for free treatment and another 25 per cent for patients supported under different government health schemes.

Managing Trustee of Shankara Cancer Foundation Dr B S Srinath said initially, the hospital will have three departments – medical oncology, radiation oncology and surgical oncology to deal with treatment of cancer.

In the first phase, a six-storey hospital building spread across around one lakh sq feet has been constructed. The foundation of the centre was laid by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in 2021. Bagchi and his wife Susmita have pledged Rs 210 crore for the hospital and Rs 130 crore for a palliative care centre being set up in collaboration with Bengaluru-based Hospice Trust Karunashraya Foundation.